Stayed here with EXPLORE on a walking holiday. Castellina in Chianti is a beautiful village with fab restaurants and is as quaint and cute as a button. Vila Godenano is a perfect place to chill and relax after a busy day. The house keeper Lena is beyond fab and just smiles ear to ear all day - a gem of a lady!!! Laura the owner pops in from time to time and she is also a lovely lovely lady sharing her familes story making your stay even more special. I would thoroughly recommend staying here, the scenary is spectacular, food AMAZING and well what can I say Toscana is just the best place for a week of chilling and forgeting the stress and strains of life......dont hesitate GO :-)

This villa is situated on a hill with a beautiful view of the valley. It is walking distance from the village for shopping, and placed well for visiting other villages in Tuscany. The rooms are clean, fresh decor, quite elegant, and the baths modern. There is a gathering room with a bar, which we used for serving up our own wines and nibbles from the village. We had dinner in a separate large dining room, with a superb chef serving 4-5 course meals of local recipes, all delicious. The breakfasts were big spreads with fruit, cereal, frittatas, sometimes eggs, bread or toast, pastries (homemade) and varied other choices. The weather was so nice that we usually took our breakfast on the terrace. The atmosphere was elegant but homey. We were a group of friends of 21, and took up the entire villa, which we liked. This villa only serves groups. They do, however, own another larger and fancier hotel nearby with a spa, where they can take on one room at a time, Villa Lecchi. We visited it for dinner and thought it was also extremely elegant.

this was my second stay at the Villa, love it! Food is yummy and the wine was free flowing. The Villa is a 10 min walk to Castellina which has some great shopping . Also it is located, so day trips work in well, close enough to sometimes take in two lovely towns in a day. I highly recommend this hotel, beautiful grounds, staff that is just great!

As I read some of these online reviews, I am totally puzzled by any review about Villa Godenano that isn't a five star review. What a gorgeous place!!
I traveled on a small bus with 20 other passengers. As the bus driver (the fabulous Luigi!) turned off the main road onto the private drive to the Villa, all that could be heard was a collective sigh when the Villa came into view. Lush green, beautifully maintained grounds complete with olive trees, grapevines, and gorgeous flowers welcomed us. We could not believe our eyes. I had looked Villa Godenano up on Trip Advisor before I left, and let me tell you....the photos posted on this website do not do it justice. This place is stunning!!! Peacefulness and serenity in abundance. The view of the surrounding vineyards from our favorite outdoor breakfast spot.....perfection!!! One day I swam in the lovely pool there (surrounded by olive trees), and gazed at the miles of vineyards and said out loud (to no one in particular) "It does not get any better than this!!!" Nirvana!!!
Okay, so enough about the grounds and exterior. On the inside....beautiful wood floors and a gorgeous shiny hardwood stairway (the woodwork all over the villa is gorgeous and sparkling). Also a bonus....apparently the only elevator in all of Italy : ) !!! This was a welcome relief from the miles of walking and hill climbing we did all over Italy, but I digress.
The bedrooms....totally charming yet spacious. Some of them enter onto a lovely terrace on the second floor. All of them had delightful windows that overlooked the beautiful grounds. Immaculate rooms and baths. Real full sized bathrooms with full sized showers!!! Crisp white linens on the beds everyday (I swear they must iron them!!). I have never slept so well.
As beautiful as the Villa is, the real magic is in the warmth and amazing Italian hospitality of Laura and Sverio (the owners) and Phillipe (their son) and Mario, a member of their staff. Laura greeted us with the story of her father whose dream it was to own Villa Godenano. And after years of hard work, his dream was realized. You have never met harder workers or nicer people than Laura and Sverio. Laura speaks great English. Sverio speaks all Italian. BUT....Sverio definitely knows how to communicate through his AMAZING cooking!!!!! I have now been home almost a week and I am still dreaming of his UNBELIEVABLE meals!!!! Bellissiimo!!!
Breakfasts are outrageous....frittatas, perfect Italian breads and bruschettas, meats and cheeses, coffee to die for. Fabulous. The dinners? Total perfection!!!! I took photos of every dish he made. Dinner became a several hour long event every night. Course after course of perfection served at our beautiful long table, complete with fabulous house wine and Sverio's own olive oil, every single night. Ti Amo Sverio!!!!!
Bottom line: I would stay here again in a heartbeat. If you have the chance to spend a week here, you will remember it forever.
Thank you to Laura and Sverio (and to our fabulous guide Marina and driver Luigi) for giving me the vacation of my dreams!!!!

p.s. Laura and Sverio also own VILLA LECCHI, a grand hotel a few towns over. We were invited there for dinner one evening and it was spectacular!!! Hotel, spa, wellness center. Scenery out of a movie. Definitely worth booking. And their fabulous Momma cooks there too, and let me tell you.....great cooks run in the family!!!!!